Flanges for piano actions



May 28, 1957 J. SCHWARZBAUR FLANGES FOR PIANO ACTIONS INVEN OR [flaw/3J0 5/3 ATTORNEY Filed April 24, 1956 United States Patent FLANGES FOR PIANO ACTIONS Julius Schwarzbaur, New York, N. Y. Application April 24, 1956, Serial No. 580,208

6 Claims. (Cl. 84-451) This invention relates to flanges for piano actions, and more particularly to a butt, damper, whip, tongue or fly flange for use in such instruments.

The invention provides a flange which permits adjustment of parts attached thereto'in four directions.

The invention further provides a flange permitting multidirectional adjustment of parts attached thereto without removal of such parts.

Still further, the invention provides a flange which permits removal of parts attached thereto without being itself removed from its support.

Yet further, the invention provides a flange of the above character which may be readily substituted for the conventional flanges in piano actions.

The invention also provides a flange which permits quick adjustment of parts attached thereto resulting in substantial savings in time for the repairman or tuner.

Last but not least, the invention provides a flange for piano actions which is extremely simple, cheap in manufacture and of rugged construction, thus normally surviving the instrument in which it is being used.

The invention resides essentially in the provision of a flange consisting of two complementary portions with guide pins therebetween. When assembled, the two portions are attached to the flange support by a central retaining element permitting, when not drawn tight, limited pivotal movement of the flange therearound. A pair of lateral adjusting members, such as metal screws, permit additional adjustments of the flange and of all the parts attached thereto by moving the lateral portions of the flange more or less away from the support. The two flange portions are provided with complementary jaws to removably receive a pivot pin and to securely hold the same while the retaining screw and the adjusting members are drawn tight.

Other features and advantages of the novel flange will become apparent and will be pointed out in more detail in the course of the following detailed description of one at this time preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, wherein similar characters of reference indicate similar elements,

Fig. l is perspective view of the piano action wherein the hammer butt or knuckle is attached to the center rail by a flange constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the detached flange;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the flange, taken on line 33 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top view of the hammer head and hammer felt, with two extreme adjusted positions of the same indicated in dot-dash lines; and

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the piano action of Fig. 1 with the shank of the back stop broken away and two different adjusted positions of the hammer head and felt indicated in dotdash lines.

Referring now in detail to the illustrated embodiment,

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and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a center rail or hammer rail 10 having a continuous bead 11 to which is fastened the novel flange 12 by a suitable retaining element, such as the wood screw 13. The flange 12 consists of a lower plate or half-flange 14 and an upper or clamping plate 15, the lower plate 14 having a transverse groove 16 that accommodates the head 11 with some clearance between the lateral walls thereof to permit limited pivotal movement of the flange when the screw 13 is not drawn tight. Metal screws 17 and 18 in the proximity of lateral edges of plates 14, 15 pass through enlarged holes in plate 15, engage the internal threads of suitable screw holes in lower plate 14, and may project from the lower surface of the latter to bear against the center rail 10, as will be described in more detail in connection with Fig. 4. As the center rai-l shown in Fig. l is of wood, a metallic strip 38 is preferably provided below the ends of screws 17, 18 and secured to the rail 10 by a plurality of members 39, so that the flange immediately responds to slightest rotation of said adjusting screws.

Flange portions 14, 15 have cooperating jaws 19, 20, respectively, to retain a pivot pin 22 between the legs 21a, 21b of the lower bifurcated portion-of knuckle 21, whereby the knuckle is pivotally attached to the rail 10. This buckle or hammer butt 21 supports the piano harnmer consisting of a shank 24, hammer head 23 and hammer felt 27, as well as the back stop 25 at the opposing end of shank 26, as is well known in the piano art. Felt 27 comes into contact with strings 28 when the corre sponding piano key is struck to produce an audible sound. The novel flange 12 permits adjustment of the hammer when the latter is diverted from true line with said strings without removing any parts of the action.

As best seen in Fig. 5, the hammer head 23 with felt 27 is adjustable transversely of the strings 28 by simply releasing the screw 13 to permit pivoting of the flange 12 therearound to the extent controlled by the bead 11 received in the groove 16. The hammer head 23 is then free to be moved between its extreme positions 23', 23" indicated in dot-dash lines. When the appropriate position of the hammer head is found, the screw 13 is again drawn tight and the piano action is ready for use. The walls of groove 16 in lower plate 14 may be roughened to interlock with the surface of bead 11 when the screw 13 is drawn tight, as is well known in the art.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, the lower plate 14 of flange 12 carries a pair of guide pins 29, 30 that enter respective bores 31, 32 in the clamping plate 15, whereby the central bores 33 and 34 are in registry to loosely receive the upper preferably unthreaded portion of screw 13. The guide pins also bring into registry the unthreaded hole 35 in clamping plate 15 with the internally threaded bore 36 in the lower plate 14. The external threads on adjusting screw 17 mesh with the internal threads in bore 36, and when the end of said screw projects below the plate 14, it bears against the rail 19 or the metallic strip 38 to pivot the lateral edge of the flange 12 away from the rail. The diameter of hole 35 is greater than the diameter of screw 1.7, so that the upper plate 15 may be moved with respect to the lower plate 14 while the screw 17 is still retained in the bore 36. Adjusting screw 18 is mounted in a similar manner in the proximity of the opposing lateral edge of the flange.

A transverse semi-circular groove or channel 37 is provided in the projecting jaw 19 of lower plate 14 for reception of pivot pin 22 which is retained therein by the complementary jaw 20 of the upper plate 15. If the removal of pivot pin 22 with the knuckle 21 is desired, screws 13, 17 and 18 are released sufliciently to provide a slot between the two plates 14, 15 of a Width greater than the diameter of the pin, while the flange 12 still remains attached to the rail 10.

As shown in Fig. 4, the hammer head 23 with felt 27 will pivot around'its shank 24 between two extreme positions 23a, 23b, indicated in dot-dash lines, when the adjusting screws 17, 18, respectively, are driven through the lower plate 14 to bear against the strip 33 on center rail 10. Thus, the hammer head is adjusted substantially along an arc with its center in the axis of shank 24 and the strings 28 parallel with the axis of symmetry common to the flange portions 14, 15. 7

It will be seen that for adjustment of hammer head 23 in any direction, the tuner must only manipulate the retaining screw 13 or one of the adjusting screws 17, 18 without being required to remove any part or parts of the piano action. The flange 12 may be made of a suitable metal or tough plastic, and by proper selection of the dimensions of groove 16 or jaws 19, 2%, it may be manufactured in sizes to be readily substituted for conventional flanges used in any make of pianos and similar stringed instruments. Also, while the flange 12 has been described and shown in use to connect the knuckle to a hammer rail, it may be employed unchanged or with minor modifications for connecting other elements of the action.

Various additional changes and modifications will occur to persons. skilled in the art within the spirit of this invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to the exact details of the flange shown and described, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a flange of the character described, a first portion, a second complementary portion and means for removably maintaining said portions in substantial alignment, said portions having a common axis of symmetry and each having an outer surface and opposing inner surfaces, at least one of said portions having a hearing at one end and in said inner surface thereof transverse to said axis, said portions each having a registering aperture in said axis, the first of said portions having a pair of internally threaded bores symmetrically disposed with respect to and axis, and the second of said portions having a pair of openings in registry with and greater than said bores.

2. The flange according to claim 1, wherein said portions each include a reduced portion at one axial end thereof, said reduced portions forming complementary jaws with said bearing in at least one of said aws.

3. The combination with a support of a flange including a first portion, a second complementary portion and means for removably maintaining said portions in substantial alignment, said portions having a common axis of symmetry and each having an outer surface and opposing inner surfaces with said outer surface of said first portion adjacent said support, said portions having complementary jaws at one axial end thereof with a transverse channel in at least one of said jaws, said portions each having a registering aperture in said axis, the first of said portions having a pair of internally threaded bores symmetrically disposed withrespect to said axis, and the second of said portions having a pair of openings in registry with and greater than said bores, a retaining member extending through said apertures in said portions and releasably anchored in said support, and a pair of externally threaded adjusting members extending through said openings in said second portion and removably received in said bores in said first portion, said adjusting members being projectable through said first portion for engaging said support and moving selected portions of said flange away therefrom.

4. The combination with a rail of a piano action, of a flange including a first portion, a second complementary portion and means for removably maintaining said portions in substantial alignment, said portions having a common axis of symmetry and each having an outer surface and opposing inner surfaces with said outer surface of said first portion adjacent said rail, at least one of said portions having a bearing at one end and in said inner surface thereof transverse to said axis, said portions each having a registering aperture in said axis, the first of said portions having a pair of internally threaded bores symmetrically disposed with respect to said axis, and the second of said portions having a pair of openings in registry with and greater than said bores, a retaining member extending through said apertures in said portions and removably anchored in said rail, and a pair of externally threaded adjusting members extending through said openings in said second portion and removably received in said bores in said first portion, said adjusting members being projectable through said first portion for engaging said rail and moving selected portions of said flange away therefrom.

5. The combination with a beaded rail of a piano action, of a flange including a first portion, a second complementary portion and means for removably maintaining said portions in substantial alignment, said portions having a common axis of symmetry and each having an outer surface and opposing inner surfaces, said outer surface of said first portion being adjacent said rail and having a recess of a width greater than and for accommodation of said bead, at least one of said portions having a bearing at one end and in said inner surface thereof transverse to said axis, said portions each having a registering aperture in said axis, the first of said portions having a pair of internally threaded bores symmetrically disposed with respect to said axis, and the second of said portions having a pair of openings in registry with and greater than said bores, a retaining screw extending through said apertures in said portions and into said bead for removably attaching said flange to said rail, and a pair of adjusting screws extending through said openings in said second portion, received in said bores in and projectable through said outer surface of said first portion for engaging said rail and moving selected portions of said flange away from said rail.

6. The combination according to claim 5, wherein said rail is of wood and a metallic band is attached thereto adjacent said outer surface of said first portion, whereby said adjusting screws engage said band when projected through said first portion of said flange.

No references cited. 

